


who knew cardio could be so fun?

by koalavirtue



Series: what tomorrow brings [3]
Category: Figure Skating RPF, Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23846200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalavirtue/pseuds/koalavirtue
Summary: The lead up to the infamous coffee date.
Relationships: Morgan Rielly/Tessa Virtue
Series: what tomorrow brings [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679134
Comments: 11
Kudos: 51





	who knew cardio could be so fun?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Just posting a little prologue/one shot inspired by an idea mentioned a while back on cc. I hope everyone is doing ok and staying safe. Enjoy 🥰

**August 25th 2019 (Sunday)**

Tessa really should be working right now but it’s a beautiful day outside and answering emails isn’t exactly her idea of fun. And while she’s not the biggest fan of cardio burning off some of the frustration induced stress that comes with producing a cross-country tour seemed like a better idea than being stuck in her hotel room.

She’s jogging through a crowded park and keeping her head down, not really in the mood to get spotted by someone, when she feels a large body bump into her shoulder, making her lose her footing and stumble slightly. A hand wraps around her arm before she falls completely and is accompanied by a deep voice which apologises profusely. “Sorry. I’m so sorry.” the man says, letting go of her arm.

Tessa quickly rights herself and looks up at the man who is still muttering how sorry he is for bumping into her. “Morgan?”

“Hey, Tessa.” He gives her a warm smile, the concern on his face still showing, however. “Are you okay?”

She brushes the hair from her face and nods. “I didn’t know you were in town.” He texted her a few days ago from Vancouver and if she’d known he was back in Toronto she would have made plans to finally spend some time together. Bumping into him isn’t the worst thing that could have happened today.

“I just got back yesterday night. Where you headed?” he asks but Tessa is too busy staring at the grey t-shirt he’s wearing which hugs his arms tightly and the bead of sweat dripping down his neck that it takes her a second to realise that he just asked her another question. 

“I’m not entirely sure actually, just wanted to stretch my legs.” she says still in a bit of a daze.

“Oh, well there’s a great pathway round here. It’s only five minutes away and it’s pretty quiet if you don’t want to be tackled by someone.” he laughs nervously.

 _She wouldn’t mind being tackled by him._ “Do you want to come with?” she asks, her mood brightening at the thought of going for a run with him (and being able to look at his arms a little more).

“Um…if that’s ok?” He doesn’t want to impose especially considering the fact they’ve only really talked over the phone or by messaging. 

“Absolutely.” she grins. “Lead the way.”

* * *

“I think I’m dying.” Morgan says, collapsing on the grass in a dramatic fashion. “The fact that I have to play hockey in six weeks scares me.”

He lays his arm over his eyes to block out the sun as Tessa sits beside him and takes a long drink from her bottle. “The fact that you almost fell into a duck pond is what scares me.”

“Hey! I wasn’t expecting the little ducky to jump out in front of me.” he says peeking out from under his arm. 

Tessa can’t help but laugh at his pout. “Yes, he was very threatening.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Morgan says seriously in agreement, wiping his sweaty brow.

“Want some?” She asks waving the bottle in her hand. He’s about to tell her to keep it (he’s worried she’s just being nice) but she hands him it anyway. “It’s fine. You can keep it as a souvenir.” 

His face turns red, and not from the heat. Morgan sits up and downs the rest of the water, watching as Tessa slips off her crop top revealing the Adidas sports bra underneath. He’s about to look away when he sees something small on her skin glint in the sunlight.

She has a fucking belly button piercing.

His breath catches in his throat and the water he was swallowing splutters everywhere causing him to start coughing. Tessa looks over, with a worried look on her face and pats him on the back a few times. He waves her off, trying to not look too absurd as he remembers how to breathe normally. “I’m fine, just went down the wrong way.” 

They sit quietly for a minute, getting comfortable on the patch of grass with Morgan sneaking small glances at the piercing. He has a thousand piercing related thoughts running through his brain right now some of which he is not going to speak out loud.

“What?” she asks, noticing the way he’s been eying her every so often.

“Nothing!” _Fuck, he’s been caught._

Tessa just lifts her eyebrow and tilts her head.

“Sorry, I just…I didn’t you had a piercing there.” he says looking at the silver ball above her belly button. “Not that I would know, cause I haven’t seen it before obviously. I— I mean I’ve seen your piercings, just the ones on your ears though. Cause I haven’t seen the rest of you…I mean your piercings. I haven’t seen the rest of your piercings.”

She just watches as he gets increasingly flustered the more he talks, very much enjoying his reaction to her navel piercing. She finally takes pity on him and interrupts his rambling. “It’s actually the first one I got.” she tells him. “I was going through my rebellious phase.”

“Oh, so you were a teenager?” he asks, a lot less worried knowing that Tessa wasn’t put off by his earlier awkwardness.

“You could say that.” She turns to him with a smirk on her face. “I was thirteen.”

“You were _thirteen_?!”

She laughs, running her fingers through the grass. “Yep. I’ve had it for so long sometimes I wonder if I should take it out.”

“No!” Morgan shouts impulsively, catching some glares from a family with a stroller who are passing by. “It looks good, you should keep it.” He says lowering his voice and looking straight at Tessa. “Only if you want of course.”

“You like it?”

“I like it.” He blushes yet again.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Tessa says softly, licking her lips which automatically catches his attention. _God, they look so soft_ , he thinks.

“So.” Morgan clears his throat. “How’s work coming?” He’s trying to change the subject before he does something stupid like kiss her in the middle of a public park.

“Good. It’s just planning this tour is getting very stressful. I know we did one last year but I still feel out of my depth when it comes to this stuff.” she admits. “It’s just, this is probably the last time we’ll skate and I don’t want to let anyone down. It’s a lot of pressure.”

“Well I don’t know a whole lot about figure skating but I happen to be pretty good on skates. I could always do a few twirls on the ice in a skirt if you need a hand.” Morgan says wiggling his eyebrows.

She laughs trying to ease the tension that comes with thinking about work, more for herself than for him but stays quiet.

“Hey. It’s gonna be great.” He bumps his leg against hers. “You’re gonna be great.” He looks so genuine when he says it then Tessa can’t help but believe him.

“I might take you up on your offer.” she says, feeling more at ease.

“If that’s the case, we should have a business meeting so I can pick out my favourite colour.” Morgan says enthusiastically. “That means we have to do this again.”

“What? Have you nearly drown in the park?” she jokes.

“No. Hang out. We could go for coffee?” he smiles nervously.

That gets her attention. Tessa’s pretty sure she’s been dropping subtle hints over text over the past few weeks that she’s into him and coffee sounds a lot like a date to her.

“That sounds good. One condition though.” she says, jumping up and wiping off the grass from her legs then grabbing her top from beside Morgan. “You have to beat me back to the pond.”

He’s about to ask her what she means when she takes off in the direction they just came from laughing as she does so.

“I’m too old for this!” he shouts, picking up the water bottle and sprinting after her, absolutely determined to win himself a date.

**Author's Note:**

> As always you can send me messages or just chat on curiouscat @koalavirtue


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